CHAIRMANS CORNER – Kyron Hall (kykat46@gmail.com)
Please make your Room Reservation and send your Reunion Registration in as soon as you can. We need this info so we can order the right number of buses etc. Remember that the Reunion Registration and Hotel registration are separate items.
Hotel: Hilton Garden Inn –1- 406-452-1000 or their webpage to reserve rooms:
http://hiltongardeninn.hilton.com/en/gi/groups/personalized/G/GTFGFGI-HPA-20160713/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POG

The Hilton offers a Cook-to-order breakfast available from 0630-1000 for $10.95. They also offer an evening dinner. For the noon meal there are nearby restaurants, across the parking lot is Chili’s and nearby are Golden Corral, Pizza Hut and McDonalds. A shopping center is close by.

REUNION ACTIVITIES:
Tuesday,-July 12, 2016 – Glacier National Park tour. There are 2 seats still available at the time of this printing. Contact K.V. at kykat46@gmail.com / 406-736-5500 for details.

Wednesday – July 13, 2016 – The meeting room will be open for Reunion Registration. There will be a couple of ‘staffers’ but we can always use an extra hand. Thanks. The first event will be the evening Welcome Buffet at the Hilton. The Hospitality Bar will be open.
Please don’t let your ‘volunteer –ism’ keep you from the tours. Shut stuff down for a while.

Thursday – July 14 – 0845 – Buses will be provided to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. There is a 30 minute video in the auditorium which gives a good overview of the “Corps of Discovery” and preps you for things you will see. A self guided tour will follow but there are attendants available to answer questions. (If you are a reader you can live their adventure and hardships in “Undaunted Courage” by Stephen Ambrose. Great book.)
About 1100 – We will re-load the buses for a 20 minute drive to Ryan Dam and the Great Falls of the Missouri River. A short walk and across a suspension bridge to the Island and a viewpoint for the Falls. After viewing the Falls we will re-board the buses to drive to Malmstrom AFB to visit the 40th Helicopter Squadron and have lunch. We can talk with those young folks and inspect the UH-1N’s that they fly. There have been many changes since we flew them.
Friday – July 15 – 0900 – We will board the buses to the Gates of the Mountains marina for the boat tour. It is a scenic drive down through the “canyon” along the Missouri River most of the way. The “Canyon Voyager” holds 107 people so let’s fill it up. Maybe even get some on a second boat. A lunch will be available after the tour before the trip back to Great Falls.

We may have some live entertainment a couple of the evenings.
Saturday – July 16 –0830 – our Business Meeting. 1030 – We will bus to the Charles M. Russell Museum. There will be some docents to narrate your tour or go on your own. There are many displays of western art and the American Bison display is a must. Back to the Hilton, a lunch break (on your own) and then time to pretty up for the photo session prior to the Farewell Banquet that evening (with cash bar). Dress code for the Banquet is what we out West call “Cowboy Formal”, ie a clean shirt and clean underwear. Everybody else calls it Casual.

We hope that all that have registered will be able to attend the reunion. However, any cancellations will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Just remember that the busses etc have been paid for in advance.

If you need a kennel, I recommend ‘Happy Tails Lodge’. 406-727-8387. http://www.happytailslodge.com/. They have kept our little ones many times. If you want to go on a tour and don’t want to kennel your pet or leave in your room, Kathy might be able to keep them at our house until you return.

There are many other things to see nearby and we will offer any information you may want. For those of you driving here, I can offer a few tips on routes etc through Montana if you like. I have driven most of the roads. Just send an email to me (kykat46@gmail) or call 406-736-5500.

If you are planning on going to Canada by car and return you will need a passport, a passport card, NEXUS card or an enhanced drivers license to re-enter the country.
If you have never been to Yellowstone or Glacier National Parks please take time to visit them. There are sights you will never forget and if you come this far you owe it to yourself to see them. Summertime is busy of course but …

You can purchase an ‘America the Beautiful’ Senior Park Pass (age 62+) for $10 at most Federal recreation site or offices (Forest Service, BLM, etc). Good for lifetime and will save on entrance fees. You can order on line for an additional $10 ($20 total). Check out www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm for details.

We are offering a Reunion Vest for purchase. The vest is Royal blue with our logo on the left front. Their sizing is small so you might want to go a size bigger. Priced at $25 each. Pre-order only. Unisex sizes available. XS to 4XL

Handicapped Accommodation – Don Van Meter
We want all to attend this wonderful Reunion. So don’t let age and infirmities talk you out of attending. If you have a mobility or other handicapping concern please let our ADA guy know about your concern and any needs. We will work with you to help make this a great memory and enjoyable trip. Send an email or call Don Van Meter at kraxa@swbell.net or 979-704-0124. He is ready to help.

Remember Walkers, Wheelchairs, even fold-up mobility scooters check in and fly FREE. No bag charge or fee. Some airlines want you to notify them in advance and as well as check-in for the flight an extra hour early to allow then time to process the medical equipment.

Montana Trivia – Weather:
The area around Great Falls has very dynamic weather. We are about 80 miles east of the Rocky Mountains and in winter the cold air slides down from Canada and the Arctic. We are under the Jet Stream and our prevailing wind is from the west/southwest. As the air flows over the Rockies dropping its moisture, the dryer air rolls down the east slope and it picks up heat. They are called “Chinook winds” and are especially noticeable in the winter.

January 24, 1916. An Arctic cold front slammed through Browning, Montana, dropping the temperature from 44°F to -56°F in 24 hours. This 100 degree change was the most dramatic 24-hour drop in temperature ever recorded in the United States at that time.

January 15, 1972. The greatest temperature change in 24 hours occurred in Loma, MT. The temperature rose exactly 103 degrees, from -54 degrees Fahrenheit to 49 degrees. This is the world record for a 24 hour temperature change, thereby breaking the previous record of 100F recorded on January 23rd-24th, 1916 in Browning, Montana.
January 11, 1980.The temperature at the Great Falls International Airport rose from -32°F to 15°F in seven minutes as warm Chinook winds eroded an Arctic air mass. This 47 degree rise in seven minutes stands as the record for the most rapid temperature change registered in the United States.
December 14, 1924. The temperature at Fairfield, Montana (about 20 miles NW of Great Falls) dropped from 63°F at noon to -21°F at midnight. This 84 degree change in 12 hours still stands as the greatest 12 hour temperature change recorded in the United States.
The peak wind gust recorded at the Great Falls International Airport was 92 mph on June 27, 1970. The average wind speed recorded at Great Falls between 1942 and 2002 is 12.5 miles per hour. December 26, 2006. A wind gauge on Snowslip Mountain, just east of the Continental Divide along Highway 2, clocked a gust of 164 mph.
The official coldest temperature in the lower 48 states of -70 °F was recorded on January 20, 1954 at Rogers Pass, Montana. The pass sits at 5,470 feet elevation in the Rocky Mountains, 60 miles south west of Great Falls. Great Falls record high 107 / low -49.
It has snowed every month of the year in Montana, mostly in the mountains. However, it snowed 6 inches in Great Falls in Aug 1992. (Don’t put away your winter coats.) Snow above 6000 feet August 22, 2015. August 25, 2015 temperature in Great Falls 93 degrees.
If you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes and it will change.